Select question(s)

Is your country a member of the WTO or is it currently negotiating its accession?

2.

If your country is a member of the WTO, what are the main changes in your country’s domestic legislation that have been triggered by your country’s WTO membership? What have been the practical implications of these legislative changes for businesses from your country? Are there any aspects of your country’s domestic law that you believe should be reformed in light of your country’s WTO membership?

3.

Is your country a participant of the WTO’s Information Technology Agreement (ITA) or seeking to adhere to it? If your country is a participant of the ITA, is your country among those members that concluded an expansion of the ITA at the December 2015 Nairobi Ministerial Conference?

4.

Is your country a participant of the WTO’s Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) or does it have the formal status of observer of the GPA, seeking to adhere to it?

5.

Has your country already ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement? What are the benefits that you expect to flow from the entry into force of that new agreement for businesses from your country?

6.

Please provide a brief description of the customs duty structure maintained by your country. To what extent is it similar to, or has it been influenced by, that of your main trading partners?

7.

Does your country maintain an import licensing regime?

8.

Please explain the export control regime in place in your jurisdiction.

9.

Has your country ever renegotiated its scheduled concessions under GATT article XXVIII? If so, could you please provide details?

10.

Has your country been involved in any WTO disputes either as a complainant, defendant or third party? Please highlight the most prominent instances of such participation.

11.

How would you evaluate the compliance record of your country with WTO dispute settlement reports? To the extent that you identify a track record of delayed or incomplete implementation, what are the main factors explaining this feature?

12.

Please explain the main procedural steps, under your domestic law, on anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard duty investigations? Which are the competent investigating authorities? Are there any appeals and review procedures in place?

13.

Are you aware of any ongoing or planned revisions of the rules on anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard duty investigations in your jurisdiction?

14.

What are the main agricultural subsidies maintained by your country? Are they in the process of being phased out?

15.

Has your country ever been involved in a WTO dispute on one or more of the three types of trade remedies? Do you anticipate any forthcoming legal action before the WTO involving your country either as a defendant or complainant?

16.

Which are the bilateral trade agreements your country is currently a party to or which it is in the process of negotiating?

17.

Can you see any conflicting rights or obligations between the bilateral or regional trade agreements your country is a member to and its rights and obligations under WTO law? If yes, what is your assessment of how such conflicts are or should be resolved?

18.

Is your country party to any regional trade agreements or in the process of negotiating its accession to one?

19.

In case your country is among the signatories of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), by when do you expect your country to have completed its ratification process?

20.

What are the benefits and disadvantages that you expect to flow from the future entry into force of the TPP for businesses from your country? How have your expectations been affected by the United States’ decision to withdraw from the TPP?

21.

If your country is not a member of the TPP, do you expect any trade currently enjoyed by your industries to be negatively impacted by increased trade in those products among members of the TPP?

22.

Does your jurisdiction benefit from the General System of Preferences maintained by the European Union and the United States? Does your jurisdiction maintain a similar system with respect to third countries?

23.

Has the bilateral trading relationship between your country and the United States been affected in any way by the change in administration in the United States? If so, which sectors have been particularly affected and why?

24.

What is the position of your country as well as that of businesses from your country on the long-standing debate on currency manipulation? Are you aware of any legislative proposals in your country similar to those in the US to address the issue via unilateral trade remedies? Do you believe that this is an issue the WTO should become more actively engaged in?

25.

How are trademarks and geographical indications protected in your jurisdiction? What are the main steps for registration of trademarks and geographical indications? Has the protection of trademarks and geographical indications in your jurisdiction changed since the WTO came into being in 1995?

26.

How are intellectual property rights enforced in your jurisdiction?

27.

Has your country ever imposed restrictions on trade in services or trade in goods due to balance-of-payments and external financial difficulties? Please explain the related provisions under domestic law.

28.

What is your country's position on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which has been open for business since January 2016? Are there any plans, promoted by your country or by businesses from your country, to participate in a similar initiative for Latin America?